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Petition Type: New
ID: 7482
Submitted: March 23, 2021 at 2:44:07 PM
First Name: Sasha
Last Name: Cohen
Student Number: 20100443
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: POLS
Level of Study: 3

Petition Categories

Petition Categories: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Code: LAW 201
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Petition Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Petition Letter

Petition Letter: Dear Whom it May Concern,

My name is Sasha Cohen (20100443) and I am a third year political studies student here at Queen¿¿s. Today I am writing to you to submit my letter of appeal to either drop the LAW201 course I am currently enrolled in, or given the length of the appeal process, would want credit standing should I pass the course. I have already spoken with an academic advisor, and after explaining my concerns and struggles to them, I was advised that this is the best option for me, in order to continue being a successful student.

Throughout this semester, I have developed a serious personal problem regarding my anxiety, which has consumed much of my time and energy making it fairly difficult to continue to successfully complete this course. The LAW201 course specifically, has been increasingly difficult for me. Because of COVID-19 and the effects of the pandemic on myself and my financial situation, it has been difficult for me to access the help I need for counselling or personal mental health appointments to learn how to deal and live with my anxiety. While I am working on it, the time that consumes my worrying and distress takes away from the time I would normally be spending on my personal success.

Last semester, I made the decision to take on a fairly heavy course load. I am enrolled in POLS320, and COMM231, and POLS398 as well. Because of such mental health concerns, it has become increasingly difficult for me to spread my attention, focus, and motivation across all of these courses, and LAW201 has continued to cause me extreme stress. I have had trouble understanding and applying myself to the concepts, and my communications with the professor and teaching assistants have been incredibly difficult; specifically, I have had trouble explaining to the teaching staff that I was never given or granted access to any of the applied learning sessions, and was only able to attend my first one this past week.

As you can see from my transcript, I am a diligent student. However, these unprecedented mental health challenges and extenuating circumstances I have been experiencing have deterred me from succeeding in a manner that I normally would, causing me yet another layer of stress.

In terms of documentation I am able to provide, I am currently in the process of switching wellness advisors from Queen¿¿s Student Accessibility Services, as my previous advisor, Jeanette Parsons is no longer with the Administration. I have reached out to QSAS via email and phone, and should hopefully be able to receive some sort of documentation in the near future, should it be required.

I hope that my concerns and circumstances are taken into consideration regarding this appeal.

Regards,
Sasha Cohen

Documentation

Professional Letter Detail: my documentation will be sent separately to the faculty office